


an unexpected customer

by alittlebitoftheuniverse, quantumoddity



Series: Widomauk Courtesan AU [10]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Reunion, Trans Male Character, Trans Molly, archmage caleb, courtesan molly, got some emotions in there, mostly fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-18 20:02:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16523699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlebitoftheuniverse/pseuds/alittlebitoftheuniverse, https://archiveofourown.org/users/quantumoddity/pseuds/quantumoddity
Summary: Mollymauk Tealeaf has been living on the Menagerie Coast for four years now, in the small village of Foamside. He's been working as a shopkeeper and fortune teller, and above all, as a father for his son, Trinket. This new life is almost enough to make him forget what he left behind, the life he used to lead, and the people who used to fill it.Almost.





	an unexpected customer

“Daddy!”

Trinket came toddling out of his blanket nest as Molly came into the back room, looking for his broom. Trinket wobbled over, head a little tilted as he tried to balance the horns that were growing faster than the rest of him, clutching at Molly’s leg. “Store time over?” he asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly with chubby fists.

“Store time over, darling,” Molly agreed, ruffling his rusty red curls gently. “We’ll go upstairs in a minute, Daddy just needs to clean up.”

“I can help!” Trinket beamed, climbing back into his nest and beginning to fluff his blankets earnestly. Molly couldn’t help but smile.

After he’d left Zadash, he’d never expected to smile so much. He hadn’t known what exactly he was getting into after moving to the Menagerie Coast. And it hadn’t been fun at first. He’d been all alone in a strange town that he couldn’t remember, cleaning up Marion’s old summer home, making a home for himself and his tiny newborn son.

But that had been almost four years ago. He had a small business now, not wildly flourishing but doing well enough to keep Trinket in comfort. He’d even found a few friends, some of the traders who visited the coast, a few locals, an artist who lived almost all the way down on the sunny shore and had given Molly his first job. And he had Trinket, growing every day, learning more, becoming more beautiful.

And more like  _ him _ .

Molly shook his head gently, grabbing his broom and starting to sweep up the back room as though he could sweep away his thoughts along with the dust. He wouldn’t think about that anymore. Wouldn’t think about the archmage, all red hair and sad eyes and the kindest smile Molly had ever seen in his life.

His thoughts were interrupted at that moment fortunately, by the tinkle of the bell on the front door and the sound of boots on the creaking wooden floors.

“I go help them!” Trinket beamed, grabbing his little doll from the floor and toddling past the curtain. Molly didn’t follow, but kept an ear out as he grabbed a crate to restock the shelves in the front room with, he’d noticed a few items had sold out earlier in the day. He couldn’t hear the words as his new customer spoke, their voice was low, but Trinket was giggling, saying he could go get his daddy now. Molly smiled to himself, grabbing the large crate and slipping past the curtain to the front room.

“Trinket?” he called. “Are you helping our new friend?”

There was a strangled gasp, and then a soft, thickly accented voice. “…Mollymauk?”

Molly didn’t remember letting the crate go, but it was suddenly crashing to the floor, making Trinket squeak in fright and duck behind his legs. Molly placed a comforting hand on his head almost absentmindedly, looking up in shock _. “Caleb?” _

He was half-convinced it was just some dream, an image caused by his reliving memories. But no, the man in front of him looked older, more tired and beat-down than Molly had ever seen him. He still wore that heavy coat, his arms hugging himself as he gazed at Molly wordlessly.

“Daddy?” Trinket whined, tugging on Molly’s long sleeve. “Why’d you drop the box? Don’t like it.”

Molly bent down to him, still not taking his eyes off of Caleb. “Daddy’s sorry, little one,” he murmured.  “It was an accident.”

Caleb made a wounded noise. “You…you have a son?” he asked, voice cracking.

Molly sighed softly, kissing Trinket’s head. “Why don’t you go back and play in your nest, hmm?” he soothed. “Daddy will come see you in a minute.”

Trinket looked reluctant, but nodded, hugging his doll tightly. “One minute,” he added. “Gonna count.”

Molly managed a smile at that. “All right. You go count.”

He didn’t look at Caleb again until Trinket was safely out of the room, and then he straightened up, smoothing his robes down. “That’s my son,” he said softly. Caleb bit down on his lip hard.

“You…you could have told me,” he said weakly. “I wouldn’t have minded.”

“Told you what?” Molly couldn’t help a bitter laugh. “That I fucked up, accidentally got pregnant with my client’s son, that I was absolutely positive whose son he is because I’d been cancelling all my other appointments for months?”

Caleb gripped the counter so hard his knuckles were going white, his blue eyes wide. “He…he can’t be,”  he murmured. “Molly, he can’t be my son. You wouldn’t not tell me and run away without a single word to me about any of this. You wouldn’t do that to me.”

Molly could see all the anguish in his face, clear as day, his desperation to understand what exactly had gone wrong between them, his disbelief that Molly would lie. It was almost enough to break Molly right there.

“I probably should have told you,” he admitted, finding suddenly that he couldn’t meet Caleb’s gaze after all. “I did what I thought was best for my son.”

“Our son,” Caleb said, his voice sounding hollow. “Have you told…does he…know anything about me?”

Molly shook his head. “He hasn’t asked me yet. I just thought I’d…I’d tell him his other father lived far away. That I had to leave because it was…it was better that way.”

“Better?” Caleb choked. “Gods, Molly, these years have been hell, I’ve never stopped thinking about you! Every single day, I’ve wondered where you were and hoped you were safe. Zadash has been a fucking prison without you, Mollymauk. I loved you, and you were gone.”

His earnest, heartbroken face, as much as his declaration, was what grew the lump in Molly’s throat enough that he couldn’t swallow it, and instead had to let it bubble out in a sob. “Caleb…gods, don’t say that…”

“I loved you,” Caleb repeated, and this time it came out in a whisper. “I wanted to tell you, I was going to tell you…” He shook his head, rubbing a hand over his face. “I had it all planned out,” he said helplessly.

“Caleb…” Molly took a shaky breath. “Gods, Caleb, I loved you too, you don’t even know how much. I’m so sorry I never explained.”

Caleb swallowed hard, shuffling where he stood. “Would…would you believe me if I said it to you now?”

Molly blinked, gazing at him in wonder. “Four years is a long time, Caleb.”

“I don’t care,” he said, voice breaking. “I still love you. I’ve loved you for so long, Molly. And if you never want to see my face again, that’s okay. I’ll leave. But if you…if you still…”

Molly didn’t have any words to summon up to answer that, and instead all he could do was to surge forward, into Caleb’s arms, winding his arms around him so tight, as if that would make it all right again, it would make everything okay.

“I love you too,” he breathed, eyes squeezed tightly shut. “I love you so much, Caleb Widogast.”

There would be so much to say. So many things to explain, to sort out, stories to share. But just for now, those words were more than enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! If you enjoyed, check me out @yasha-pick-me-up or @soft-bram on tumblr!


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